HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro review: great sound, even better noise cancelation

Posted on by Anton D. Nagy

We’ve been using the HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro for close to one month.

When I first heard about the features, and later experienced first-hand the capabilities of the HUAWEI FreeBuds 3, I knew it was going to be something special. The earbuds were beautiful, sounded good, and they featured active noise cancellation. For those new to these terms, there are three types of noise-canceling earbuds out there: 1. active (which use smart algorithms to cancel out outside noise), 2. passive (those which you insert deep inside your ear canal, and physically block out some of the noise), and 3. a combination of number 1 and 2 above.

When Apple announced the AirPods Pro, which are in-ear noise-canceling earbuds (number 3 above), I had a feeling that HUAWEI will not just sit back and let this pass, more so that we were coming up on the one year mark since the FreeBuds 3 were introduced.

Enter the FreeBuds Pro, HUAWEI’s answer to the AirPods Pro, and the follow-up to the successful FreeBuds 3. They’re not only completely redesigned, but are much smarter, and, to give you a hint of the conclusion of this review, these should definitely be on your shortlist of noise-canceling earbuds for the holidays. This is our HUAWEI FreeBuds 3 review, and we’re going to take a look at every aspect so that you can know exactly what to expect when you purchase these bad boys.

HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro specs

This year’s flagship ANC wireless earbuds from HUAWEI are powered by the same HiSilicon Kirin A1 chip that stands at the heart of the FreeBuds 3, as well as most HUAWEI smartwatches, including the most recent HUAWEI Watch GT 2 Pro.

If you have a smartphone (or watch, or another device you pair them to) that supports Bluetooth 5.2, the FreeBuds Pro will take advantage of that.

You can look up the full spec-sheet yourselves, but worth mentioning here is also the bone sensor, which is one of the main features for clear voice calls, as well as a battery capacity of 55mAh per earbud, and 580mAh for the charging case (which can be charged via cable or wirelessly).

For the audiophiles among you, worth noting also the rather large, for its size, 11mm dynamic driver that’s inside each earbud, generating a really pleasant, loud, accurate, and close to audiophile-grade sound quality.

However, the main feature is the Active Noise Cancellation, which, opposed to last year’s model, is now coupled with in-ear canal placement (offering extra passive noise cancellation), and the addition of AI algorithms that help filter out the noise without tampering with the audio quality. 

Design, build, and fit

The charging case itself weighs about 60 grams, and measures 70 x 51.3 x 24.6mm, is rather compact, and has a glossy finish to it. It’s available in three colors: Silver Frost, Ceramic White, and the Carbon Black we have been using for the past month.

Flipping the charging case open reveals the two earbuds, weighing about 6 grams each, and measuring 26 x 29.6 x 21.7mm. This is also where you will encounter the first thing on our cons list: it is rather difficult to pull out the earbuds from the charging case, or we haven’t figured out an easy way to do it just yet. The buds themselves are glossy as well, and the magnets hold them pretty tightly in place, so you’ll probably have to fumble around until you successfully remove them.

In terms of design, they look pretty much like any other wireless earbud, interestingly though, nothing like the AirPods Pro, which is really a good thing.

Inside the earbuds, there’s the 11mm dynamic driver we already mentioned, which is paired with an intelligent EQ which relies on the in-ear microphone to adjust sound and keep it balanced.

Also inside, HUAWEI went with a three-mic approach: two microphones are facing outside, in order to pick up noise (to be canceled out), while featuring also an anti-wind noise cancellation tube, and one is an in-ear microphone that’s responsible for voice clarity. There’s also a bone sensor that enhances the voice by reading the bone vibration.

Still on the inside of this tiny earbud, you’ll find the Kirin A1 chip with Bluetooth 5.2 capabilities, and not one, but two Bluetooth antennas per each earbud to improve signal strength, coverage, and avoid interferences. 

On the outside there a sensor and a button on each earbud, which responds to swipes and pinches. We’ll get to that in our Experience segment below.

Last, but not least, the fit: HUAWEI bundles three silicon earbuds with the FreeBuds Pro: small, medium, and large. You’ll easily find the perfect fit for your ears, but if you’re not sure, the AI Life app can check the fit for you by playing some sounds and picking them up with the in-ear microphone to suggest a different fit, or to confirm the perfect fit.

Audio quality, ANC, and Experience

The HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro sound really good. Compared to the predecessor, they deliver more oomph on the lower end of the frequency spectrum (bass), which is understandable, as these are in-ear canal type earbuds, compared to the FreeBuds 3.

These more powerful lows aren’t at all distorted, so don’t think of it as exaggerated. Regardless of the genre that you prefer, you’ll be very satisfied with the quality output, as the FreeBuds Pro offers a very warm sound with a rather wide soundstage. 

Thanks to the microphones and chips inside the buds, as well as some software wizardry, the buds adapt thanks to the dynamic equalizer where multiple mics listen to the sound and adapt if for optimal output.

Being in-ear type earbuds, simply wearing them with good-fitting silicone blocks out a lot of the outside noise. However, the FreeBuds Pro offer a level of active noise cancellation which is unrivaled in this particular class of wireless ANC earbuds. 

You have the option to turn ANC off, and when you turn it on, you can customize it depending on the environment. Modes include Dynamic, Cozy, General, and Ultra, with the first one being an automatic mode, and the following three being manual, depending on the level of noise that surrounds you.

When I first tried it out I was shocked at the level of cancelation these earbuds offer. It completely cuts out most if not all of the noises surrounding you.

Then there’s HUAWEI’s take on Apple’s “Transparency” mode, called “Awareness” mode. With this option turned on, the earbuds allow through certain mid and high frequencies. Usage scenarios include hearing important announcements at the airport, for example, or better hearing people talking around you. 

The overall experience is top-notch, from the in-hand feel, in-ear fit, to the sound quality, and even the software that allows you to control some of the settings.

However, there’s plenty of things you can control from the buds themselves. For instance, volume control is achieved by sliding your finger on the front part of the earbud stem (on both of them). Sliding up will increase the volume, sliding down will decrease it.

Then you can also squeeze the stem (HUAWEI calls this gesture “pinch”). While all these gestures are customizable, default actions are Play/Pause music for a single pinch, Reject Call/Next song for a double pinch, and Previous song on a triple pinch. 

Pinching and holding enables or disables the noise cancellation feature.

In terms of battery life, HUAWEI advertises 7 hours of music playback with ANC turned off, and 4.5 hours with ANC on. These numbers jump to 30 hours of music playback with ANC off, and 20 hours with ANC on if you take into consideration the charging case. Our experience was pretty close to the advertised numbers, which is a huge improvement over last year’s model.

Conclusion

I was never a huge fan of ANC-capable earbuds, maybe because none of the ANC-enabled ones I’ve tried out so far managed to impress me. The FreeBuds Pro, on the other hand, did!

Even though some features of the earbuds are exclusive to HUAWEI smartphones (Auto-Pairing for instance, as well as the Ultra-low Latency connection; AI Life app not available on iOS), I can still highly recommend the FreeBuds Pro for anyone who likes to enjoy music at exceptional audio quality, for a long period of time (good battery life), and with a pair of relatively small, but elegant earbuds.

Because it offers great audio quality and active noise cancellation, good battery life, and overall user experience, the versatile HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro is our Editor’s Choice for best ANC true wireless earbuds.

The FreeBuds Pro are available for £169.99 in the UK from HUAWEI, or €179,00 in the EU. While a bit pricey, they’re still much cheaper than the main competitor, the Apple AirPods Pro, but I think you’ll be more than satisfied with your purchase.

Pros and Cons 

ProsCons
+ premium materials
+ good battery life
+ great audio quality
+ even better noise cancellation
+ touch/gesture controls
+ stable connection		– earbuds are difficult to remove from the case
– no water resistance
– some features are exclusive to HUAWEI phones

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HUAWEI Developer Conference 2020: All the landmark announcements and launches

Posted on by Nadeem Sarwar

The HUAWEI Developer Conference 2020 concluded a few days ago. But in terms of key announcements regarding new product launches and the company’s software ecosystem as a whole, this year’s dev conference was the most significant one.

HUAWEI launched the impressively thin and powerful MateBook X ultrabook, debuted the sleek HUAWEI Watch GT2 Pro, unveiled a new noise-canceling true wireless earbuds, and more.

But more importantly, the company talked in detail about its in-house cross-device operating system – HarmonyOS 2.0 – while detailing the advancements made with AppGallery and HMS core as a whole. It was essentially a flood of announcements, but here the most important ones that really stood out:

HarmonyOS 2.0

HDC 2020 served as the introduction platform for HarmonyOS 2.0, an updated version of HUAWEI’s homegrown OS that is faster and more functional. HUAWEI finally announced that Harmony OS is coming to smartphones next year (with SDKs planned to be released later this year), and will make its way to tablets and wearables soon.

It brings improved latency, high throughput, high reliability, and dynamic delay calibration to make cross-device file transfer more convenient, all thanks to the distributed data management system.

HUAWEI has also made major advancements in the area of security and privacy as well. HarmonyOS 2.0 relies on a versatile authentication portfolio that includes everything from facial recognition and fingerprint data to voice match and even heart rate data to grant access to system information and capabilities.

HUAWEI says it is also more efficient when it comes to collaborative meeting space and motion-control games. HUAWEI plans to fully open HarmonyOS for the dev community in October next year. 

AppGallery

HUAWEI also made major revelations talking about progress made when it comes to the AppGallery and initiatives being taken to welcome aboard more developers. The company revealed AppGallery now serves over 490 million users in more than 170 countries, app downloads reaching 261 billion in the first half of 2020, and that over 1.8 million developers have joined the ecosystem so far.

The company is also offering the dev community a ton of incentives such as marketing resources and more favorable revenue-sharing models to help them reach a wider audience, 360-degree support to developers ranging from ideation and development to distribution and operation management, as well as promotion opportunities for their apps via tactics like gift codes and offering rewards for downloading certain apps. 

EMUI 11

The next major upgrade for HUAWEI’s Android 11-based smartphone skin – EMUI 11 – also made its debut at the dev conference. Talking about new features, EMUI 11 introduces a customizable always-on display, a smarter multi-window interface that now lets users adjust the size of floating windows, and Multi-screen Collaboration 3.0 to easily share your smartphone’s screen on a PC and run up to three floating windows at once.

Users can directly edit files saved on the smartphone through the PC, and even take audio or video calls. The Notepad app has received a scan to create and Extract Text features, which allows users to pull text data from an image. Talking about privacy, users will now be able to remove data such as location, time, and device details before sharing it, while the memos can now be protected behind a PIN or biometric lock.

HMS 5.0

The Chinese giant also detailed v5.0 of the HUAWEI Mobile Services (HMS) Core which brings improvements in five key service areas – payments, ads, browsing, maps, and search. HMS 5.0 brings Computer Graphics Kit, Scene Kit, Accelerate Kit, AR Engine, and more such upgrades to offer an all-round performance improvement.

It also offers WidePlay DRM that offers copyright protections for music and entertainment apps and also ensures that AppGallery now connects with the HUAWEI Cloud. HUAWEI also talked about HMS Core’s advanced AR and ML capabilities to boost e-commerce, its gaming potential, and the advancements it brings in the domains of transport and navigation. 

HUAWEI MateBook X and MateBook 14 

HUAWEI launched the ultra-sleek MateBook X last week, introducing it as one of the thinnest laptops out there. It is smaller than a sheet of A4 paper and weighs just around 1kg.

It packs a 13-inch 3K display and draws power from Intel’s 10th Gen processors. It also supports 65W fast charging and is also the first HUAWEI laptop to come with Wi-Fi 6 support. 

The MateBook 14, on the other hand, is the more mainstream option and hence is also more affordable. It comes with a 14-inch 2K display and is powered by AMD’s Ryzen 4000 series processor. It features a pop-up camera that is hidden underneath a function button, supports 65W fast charging, and ships with the HUAWEI Share tech. 

HUAWEI Watch GT 2 Pro 

HUAWEI Watch GT 2 Pro

The HUAWEI WATCH GT 2 Pro is a looker, rocking a watch face that is made of sapphire while the watch frame is made from titanium. It supports 24-hour heart rate monitoring, all-day stress monitoring, and blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) monitoring, among other fitness-centric features.

It is claimed to last two weeks on a single charge and supports over 100 workout modes. It features a 1.39 inch AMOLED display and also comes with a 5 ATM water-resistance rating.

HUAWEI Watch Fit

HUAWEI Watch Fit

The company also launched the HUAWEI Watch Fit sports watch that features a rather larger rectangular display. It supports real-time heart rate monitoring, and blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) levels, can last up to 10 days on a single charge, and offers 5 ATM water resistance too. It packs a 1.4-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 280×456 pixels, which translates to a pixel density of 326ppi.

HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro

In addition to smartwatches and laptops, HUAWEI also launched the FreeBuds Pro true wireless earbuds. They offer the in-house Dynamic ANC tech to recognize the ambient noise and negate it, providing a distraction-free music listening experience. Each earbud features two Bluetooth antennas to offer 360-degree signal coverage, while custom-tuned 11mm drivers handle the audio output.

The FreeBuds Pro also supports gestures such as long press to toggle the ANC mode, swipe to control volume, and pinch to control music playback. They are claimed to last 7 hours on a single charge, while the charging case adds another 23-hours of playback time. Plus, they can be connected with two devices simultaneously and offer a seamless switching experience as well. 

HUAWEI FreeLace Pro

Lastly, HUAWEI also launched the FreeLace Pro neckband-style Bluetooth earbuds that also offer Dual-mic Active Noise Cancellation for an immersive music listening experience. They feature a larger 14mm driver and an aluminum-magnesium alloy diaphragm to deliver punchy bass and a wide soundstage. They can be charged directly by plugging them via the USB Type-C port into a smartphone. The new HUAWEI offering is claimed to last an impressive 16 hours on a single charge with noise-cancellation enabled. 

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Huawei officially launches new FreeBuds Pro and FreeLace Pro earphones

Posted on by Samuel Martinez

Huawei’s latest presentation has also included the official launch of the long-rumored FreBuds Pro and FreeLace Pro. Two new pairs of headphones that come to improve what Huawei had already offered with the original FreeBuds and FreeLace earphones.

HUAWEI FreeLace Pro

We will start talking about the new FreeLace Pro, as its Huawei’s latest neckband earphones with stylish design and intelligent noise cancellation. These new earphones retain several characteristics from the original FreeLace, as they include 24 hours long battery and USB-C fast pairing. Still, they now come with a better design and enhanced fast charging and battery life that you can top off in 60 minutes.

The new FreeLace Pro also includes improved noise cancelation, as it features a combination of active noise cancelation tech with leading robust noise-reducing algorithms. This new noise cancelation tech sets a new standard reaching up to 40dB, meaning that they will give you a reliable noise cancelation experience whether you’re doing sports, working, or commuting in crowded and noisy environments.

However, you also get a new Awareness Mode that will let users hear their surroundings, talk to people, and pay attention to whatever is happening around them without taking the earphones off. They come in three color variants, Graphite Black, Spruce Green, and Dawn White. They also feature Dual ANC, Bluetooth 5.0, and aIPX5 water resistance. The new neckband-style earphones from HUAWEI cost ~€119 (~ $140) and will be available later this month.

HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro

We now focus on the Huawei FreeBuds Pro, the world’s first intelligent dynamic noise-canceling earphones. These are Huawei’s flagship as far as earphones go. Noise cancelation in these babies can also go up to 40dB, but its intelligent and dynamic new noise cancelation tech quickly identifies the type of noise in the user’s environment and automatically switches to the best noise cancelation mode for the occasion.

The FreeBuds Pro also supports better HD sound quality, with a large 11mm dynamic driver and dynamic equalization. They support full dual connectivity across devices, so they can easily switch automatically between them. They also include Awareness Mode and Voice More, as they will let you hear your surroundings when it is required. Its Voice Mode will allow you to properly sear other people’s voices clearly, despite the noise around you, and it will also be useful to hear important announcements in train stations, bus stops, or airports.

As far as comfort goes, the Huawei FreeBuds Pro come with three varying sizes of silicone earplugs, which combine with a detection feature to allow users to find a perfect fit with the help of Huawei’s AI Life app. You can also choose between its new color options, as they will be available in Carbon Black, Ceramic White and Sliver Frost.

Huawei has also managed to add a customized dynamic suspension between the speaker and the dynamic driver, stabilizing the earphone’s acoustic system. This translates to a reduction in vibrations and the possibility of delivering crisp and clear sounds. We also find a new feature called Dynamic EQ Adjustment, which allows your earbuds to sense the user’s environment and automatically switch between three noise cancelation modes. These are the Ultra Mode, Cozy Mode, and General Mode – to effectively cut out environmental noise.

Now, if we focus on battery life, the FreeBuds Pro will let you make a call that can go for four hours, listen to seven hours of non-stop music on a single charge, or you get eighteen hours of calls and thirty hours of music with the charging case, but this is if noise cancelation is off. If you were to have noise cancelation on, you would receive three and a half hours for calls, or sixteen hours with your charging case, and four and a half hours of music playback that can be extended to twenty hours with your charging case. Still, you can easily charge them with wires or wirelessly. Charging with wires will get you 30% in ten minutes or 55% in thirty minutes, or you can go wireless and receive 18% and 32% with a ten minute or a thirty-minute charge. The HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro cost €199 (~ $236) and will go on sale starting October.

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Huawei ready to present the FreeBuds Pro and more devices on September 10

Posted on by Samuel Martinez

Despite everything that’s going on with the Huawei ban, the Chinese tech giant is not stopping, and it is getting things ready to present new products next week.

Huawei has already started to tease the launch of its new FreeBuds Pro and several other devices. These new headphones are expected to be so good that they’re getting their own teaser, apart from the rest of the devices that are expected to be announced on September 10.

The new Huawei FreeBuds Pro should arrive with better Active Noise Cancelation than the one received in the FreeBuds 3, and we can expect other improvements. However, this won’t be the only pair of headphones we will see next Thursday, as we are also getting the Huawei FreeLace Pro, which comes with a neckband design. It will offer “double” active noise cancellation and USB-C fast charging.

The company is also expected to announce the new Huawei Watch GT2 Pro and a new smart band, which could very well be a new version of the Huawei Watch Fit, or at least that’s what these images make us believe.

Finally, we may also get two new MateBook laptops. However, it is not clear what to expect, since the Huawei MateBook X Pro 2020 was released a while ago, while the MateBook D and MateBook 13 were presented even before that.

It will also be interesting to see which components are found inside these new Huawei products, as the US ban has managed to block some of its operations. As a result, the upcoming Mate 40 series was confirmed to be the last flagship device to include a Kirin processor.

At the moment, MediaTek may be the best positioned to supply chipsets to Huawei, as they are both Chinese companies. Still, MediaTek is waiting to receive permission from the United States in order to avoid complications in the future.

Source GSM Arena

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